


Picking Flowers

by NotTheProtagonist



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Anne and Gil are friends, F/M, Rachel appreciating a good ship, Rachel probably flipping out, i'm a little in love with this one, loosely based on a weird idea, two dorks daydreaming about the future, who can't handle seeing each other holding a baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-07-01 01:43:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15764040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotTheProtagonist/pseuds/NotTheProtagonist
Summary: Anne is sent to pick flowers for a visitor. Gilbert offers to help.





	Picking Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a silly idea I had, hope you enjoy!

Green Gables was expecting a visitor. It was a visitor Marilla had been preparing for since her invitation was graciously accepted, and also one Anne was dearly wishing would appreciate the labours that resulted in her aching arms and back.  
The reverend's revered colleague, Vicar Dobbs, was due.

The cakes and buns had been prepared. Marilla's finest jellies and tea set had been brought out. Matthew had been forced to shave and wear a decent suit.  
Vicar Dobbs had a herd in the mainland, however the local religious community was making a tradition of visiting each other to sample the locality and pick up any habits of their neighbours.  
Anne was setting out the polished cutlery when Marilla gasped, her hands clasped to her heart.  
“Goodness, we forgot to get something for the table!” Her hands hovered above the place-mats, as if she could conjure a centrepiece from thin air. “Anne! Go pick a bouquet, quickly now, they're due in a few hours!”  
“Yes, Marilla.” Anne replied, beelining for the door. 'Yes, Marilla' was practically the only thing Anne had said for the last three days. She had been hoping Diana would rescue her, but the Barrys were visiting Aunt Josephine for the weekend and spending time with Ruby without Diana would only result in an unwanted sermon on Gilbert's virtues.

Anne sprinted from Green Gables, a giggle bubbling from her lips as her boots skipped across the soft summer earth. The island was beginning to bask in the glory of the season, and Anne had spent the school holidays prancing and playing with Diana, Ruby, Jane and Tillie. Josie had joined in a few times, but always seemed to be called home by her mother.  
She knew the perfect place to pick flowers: just a stone's throw from the Lake of Shining Waters.  
There she'd find the most beautiful and tallest daisies and gerardias. Her new mission in hand, she pledged to find the best flowers to impress the vicar. Her and Marilla's tiresome work would certainly not be for nought.

She began plucking her favourite flowers, before holding them beside others to decide whether they'd suit one another. She was very much unwilling to pick a flower if it would only be abandoned because it didn't match. In fact, she was so engrossed to her task that she failed to hear a voice she was uncomfortably used to shouting to her. Only when a hand landed on her shoulder did she whirl around.  
“You could have warned me!” She exclaimed, almost crushing the flowers in her fist.  
Gilbert laughed. “I've been yelling at you on my walk down.” He replied, pointing at the Blythe homestead behind him.  
Ah. She hadn't realised how close she'd gotten.  
“What are you doing?” He asked, eyes on the tiny bouquet.  
“We have a visitor this afternoon. Marilla asked me to fetch a bouquet for the table.”  
He nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets. Taking a moment, she realised he was dressed for farmwork and she suspected, if she had looked at his hands, they'd be coated in dirt.  
“Mind if I join you?” He asked with a smile.  
Well, she could hardly refuse. Even if she was supposed to be avoiding him, there was no viable excuse to reject this innocent request.  
“Of course.” She replied with a decisive nod. “We're looking for yellow and white flowers.”  
“Got it.” He set to work immediately. Anne watched him for a moment before remembering they were both meant to be working.

She wasn't distracted. There was certainly nothing distracting about Gilbert. She wasn't watching careful hands test stem strengths or broad shoulders shift under his white shirt as he knelt down.  
At least, if anyone asked, she wasn't.

“So, who's the visitor?” He asked some time later, sat cross-legged in front of a crowd of bright flowers.  
Anne's bouquet was growing fast and she was sure her grip would soon loosen on the stems, so she settled down opposite him and began to arrange them.  
“Vicar Dobbs. He's come to visit the reverend and Marilla invited him over last Sunday. We've been quite busy since them preparing the house.”  
He hummed in reply. “I was wondering why I hadn't seen you and Diana much.”  
Anne sighed heavily at the mention of her absent best friend. “She's visiting dear Aunt Josephine and Cole. Marilla wouldn't let me go as she knew the vicar would be here.”  
He grinned. “Well, this isn't so bad, is it?”  
She arched an eyebrow and glanced at his crinkled dark eyes. “I suppose it could be worse.” She sniffed.  
She heard another quiet chuckle escape him and quickly squashed her own rising smirk.  
“You know, there are more yellow flowers down by White Sands.” He remarked, just as Anne was beginning to worry there were too many white flowers.  
She blinked. “There are, aren't there!?” Why on Earth hadn't she thought of White Sands before?  
“I could fetch the cart and have us down there and back in time for the vicar.” He said, standing up and beginning to back towards the farm.  
“Yes, please. Thank you, Gilbert.” She nodded, clutching the bouquet to her chest.  
She watched him jog away, heart thumping slightly under her brown dress.

The road to White Sands ran right past Lynde's Hollow. She could only hope Rachel was too busy to be perched by her window today.  
Gilbert returned within minutes and extended a hand. “Hop on.”  
She reluctantly grabbed his hand, hoping her own wasn't too sweaty, and sat beside him.  
It was perfectly innocent, she thought. They were only picking flowers.  
“Sorry if the journey's a bit rough. It's been a while.” He apologised, holding up the reins.  
“You should try travelling with Jerry.” She commented, shaking her head.  
They were coming up on Lynde's Hollow and Anne sank slightly in her seat, hoping Gilbert would conceal her from the front window's view. As if on cue, she saw the net curtains twitch slightly, and before she could stop herself, let out a grumble.  
“Are you okay?” Gilbert asked, eyes flickering from the road to her.  
“Rachel Lynde just saw us.” She murmured, crossing her arms with a stern look.  
Gilbert, who had only heard 'Rachel' over the creaking cart and trotting horse, glanced back at the Lynde home. “Rachel likes you far too much to spread gossip, Anne.”  
Anne straightened up. “Maybe not, but she'll tell Marilla.”  
He shrugged. “It's not like we're eloping, Anne. Miss Cuthbert and Rachel know we're friends.”  
Anne pursed her lips. Were they friends?  
They'd been spending more time together, but they were always surrounded by their families. Bash, Mary and Gilbert had dined at Green Gables several times since the wedding, and since Bash got the farm up and running, they had invited the Cuthberts over.  
Bash liked to tease Gilbert about some private joke, and his eyes would always dart over to Anne. It had happened enough times that Anne was beginning to think about it more than she'd like.  
She thought it for a few minutes, before looking at Gilbert. “We are friends.”  
He raised an eyebrow. She had been thinking about that all this time? 

He brought the cart to a stop as they entered White Sands, before jumping off and holding out a hand to help Anne down.  
She descended without any assistance, cocking an eyebrow at him before striding towards the nearby field.  
They were fairly close to Mrs. Blewett's home; it was a part of Avonlea Anne generally liked to avoid. Once Gilbert had tied the horse up, he joined her once more. 

About twenty minutes later, Anne noticed Gilbert suddenly straighten up in her peripheral vision. She looked over and found his body turned towards the Blewett home.  
He turned to her, squinting in the sun. “Do you hear that?”  
She approached him and they stood in silence for a few seconds. Then suddenly, a shrill cry broke from an open window of the house.  
“One of Mrs. Blewett's children.” Anne said dismissively, starting to head back to her picking spot. She was sure they'd hear Mrs. Blewett yelling soon.  
“Their cart's gone.” Gilbert muttered.  
She glanced at him again. The baby was still crying.  
He returned her look. “I don't think anyone's home.”  
Anne's body jerked slightly. She'd known mothers to slap or screech at their children, but never leave them home alone at such a young age. Mrs. Blewett had last given birth in the autumn, surely she wouldn't leave a nine month old alone?  
Without waiting for an answer, Gilbert began to run towards the house. Anne quickly followed, leaving her unfinished bouquet in the cart.  
Gilbert was already at the staircase by the time she reached the front door. Whilst he went upstairs, she searched for any signs of Mrs. Blewett, her husband or other children. There was nobody. The oven was stone cold. The fireplace was empty. She could hear her heart in her head, blood pumping as panic began to encircle her.

She took the stairs two at a time, appearing at the door just in time to see Gilbert turn to face her, a small bundle in his arms.  
Anne was not prepared for a vision such as this. She was most certainly not ready for children at only fifteen, but watching Gilbert cradle a baby and gently run a finger over its temple made something inside her shift. It wasn't quite a revelation or a turning point. It wasn't a defining event in her life, but it was an acknowledgement of something she'd known for a while, and it was enough to turn whatever sentence on the tip of her tongue to:  
“Umm...”  
He looked at her, mistaking her dumbstruck expression for confusion at Mrs. Blewett's actions. “I don't understand either. Maybe it got too much for her.” He suggested, as the baby gripped Gilbert's finger.  
“Err…”  
“It happens sometimes. I've been learning about it with Doctor-”  
“We should find someone.” Anne exclaimed suddenly, gaining her grip on reality once more.  
Her imagination was being rather rude, interrupting each rational thought with marvellous pipe dreams of her and Gilbert cradling a baby with a small sprout of curly dark hair and bright, curious blue eyes. Anne's infamous imagination could sometimes be very disloyal.  
“Of course.” He agreed. “But let's write a note, just in case they return.”  
Anne nodded and scribbled a note, saying they found the baby alone and took it to Green Gables to keep it safe. She grabbed a bag and filled it with bottles, old toys, clothes and blankets, then followed Gilbert back to the cart.  
“Will you take...is it a he or a she?” Gilbert asked.  
Someone had definitely told Anne that it was a girl. Or a boy. She glanced at the clothes she'd taken, hoping for some form of clue. It was useless of course, Mrs. Blewett had reused her first child's clothes for all her babies.  
“I don't know.” She admitted. “But I'll take them.”  
Both hoping the other couldn't feel their racing heart, Gilbert carefully laid the baby in Anne's arms, then stepped back.  
Ah.  
“Umm...” He stammered.  
Anne's cheeks instantly flushed. It didn't take a genius to work out Gilbert's mind was most likely running rampant too. “Shall we go?”  
“R-right. Yes. Let's go.” He helped her onto the cart, both keeping their eyes on the dozing infant.

Needless to say, Rachel and her cup of tea were waiting at the window to watch Anne and Gilbert ride back past. In fact, she achieved a new record. It only took two hours for all of Avonlea to hear Anne Shirley-Cuthbert and Gilbert Blythe had a baby.  
In ten years time, that same rumour would give her a new record.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Please leave kudos if you liked it! :)


End file.
